Parks not only heighten the beauty of a city but also serve as multifunctional urban oases with a role in nature appreciation, eco-protection, recreation, and education. Taipei's diverse parks include urban forest, waterside green spaces and natural ecosystem spaces and are used for community recreation and for sport or exercise. They're also great weekday destinations to refresh both mind and body.
Daan Park – The Lungs of Taipei
Daan Park (大安森林公園), located in Daan District (大安區), was designed as a metropolitan forest. This model city park is oft referred to as the "lungs of Taipei City". It's an expansive 25 hectares in size, and since its opening in 1994 has been an important Taipei landmark.
The park is spacious, and its facilities comprehensive. It can be roughly divided into a bamboo forest area, banyan tree area, fragrant flower area, aquatic plant area, gallery forest area, pond and rockery area, amphitheater, children's play area, and parking garage. In addition to the appealing green foliage within the park's confines, the sidewalks around the outside edge are of interest as well, featuring different tree species. There are yellow flame trees along Jianguo S. Road (建國南路), camphor along Heping E. Road (和平東路), and paper-bark along Xinsheng S. Road. A medley of trees has been planted to complement the new Taipei MRT station being built on Xinyi Road, including Chinese pistache, Chinaberry, and Formosan sweet gum. Walking through Daan Park, you could almost feel you're in a forest somewhere in the countryside.
The most distinctive manmade structure in the park is the amphitheater. The outdoor music stage is surrounded by fragrant flowers and plants. There is also a scenic pond, 0.7 hectares in area, which is home to many types of aquatic plant and fish such as carp and teal. Night herons, grey herons and moorhens can often be seen, while other bird species rarely seen in the city (such as Japanese green pigeons, magpies, and Muller's barbets) can also sometimes be spotted. Nearly 30 bird species have been recorded in the park, a rare and precious mini-paradise for bird-watchers right in the heart of the city.
Dajia Riverside Park – Prime Green Environs for Cycling and Riverside Walks
Dajia Riverside Park (大佳河濱公園) is in Zhongshan District (中山區), in the straightened-out Dajia section of the Keelung River (基隆河). It takes up developed land on the left bank of the river between Dazhi Bridge (大直橋) and Zhongshan Bridge (中山橋). The park is expansive, the views are wide and lovely, and the park has become one of the city's favorite riverside-access venues.
Enter the park from Binjiang Street (濱江街) at water gates 8, 9, or 10. The park greets you with a wide expanse of jade-green grass. In the middle is the large Fountain of Hope (希望之泉) which shoots a central column of water up to 75 meters high and has a main fountain 125 meters in diameter. There's a 30-minute fountain show every two hours between 10 am and 4:30 pm, which blooms like the petals of a flower and features a kaleidoscopic 80-color underwater lighting array, creating some arresting waterscapes. The grounds are also graced with eight splendid bronze horses, each different, and (among many other attractions) a new children's play area and sandpit play area, which are perfect for family fun.
Among the many other facilities are basketball, tennis, and badminton courts, a croquet field, and a multi-kilometer grid of cycle paths that is a favorite with riders on weekends and holidays. In recent years the park has also become a favorite with myna birds, which create a riveting tableau each time they suddenly flock up into the sky.
Xinsheng Park – A Large Park of Many Functions
Xinsheng Park (新生公園), nearly 20 hectares in size, was one of the four contiguous parks used as the site of the 2010 Taipei Int'l Flora Expo. Taipei's second-largest park, it was completed in 1978. Located near Taipei Songshan Airport, it lies along the flight path for landing planes, which pass directly overhead like giant birds with wings outstretched, and feel so close you could almost touch them. Because of this, the park is a favorite venue for aircraft spotters – but obviously it's not the place to go to fly your kite!
Among the park's many sports and exercise facilities are baseball and softball fields, basketball courts, tennis courts, an indoor heated swimming pool, and a cobblestone path for foot massage. Elsewhere is the Lin An Tai Historical House & Museum (林安泰古厝民俗文物館), a classical Qing Dynasty-era four-sided courtyard residential complex in the south Fujian style. Also nearby are the Pavilion of Dreams (夢想館), Pavilion of Angel Life (天使生活館), Pavilion of Future (未來館), and Taipei Robot Pavilion (臺北機器人館), all world-class exhibition facilities in which the best in high-tech and green building techniques are integrated. This area's many unique elements make it a worthwhile day-trip destination.
Bihu Park – A Community-style Leisure Park
Bihu Park (碧湖公園) in Neihu District (內湖區) is 16 hectares in size. Its north sector is hilly and wooded and in its middle is the large Dapi Lake (大埤湖), used for agricultural irrigation under Japanese rule (1895-1945). The site was converted into a park in 1987, and the idyllic hill and lake immediately became a popular leisure spot with local residents.
Located beside a residential area, the park has numerous breezy Chinese-style rest pavilions, and its zigzagging Nine Turns Bridge (九曲橋) has a quaint, traditional beauty. The many different plant species along the lake-encircling path – willow, bald cypress, golden shower, and flame trees, plus hibiscus and azalea flowers – burst into bloom in spring and summer, adding to the lovely lake and hill scene.
Local residents have nicknamed the park's management office (a bright, eye-catching white European-style structure beside the lake) the "Little White House" (小白宮). The park also enjoys abundant fauna in addition to its rich flora, and one or two dozen little egrets, along with numerous anglers, can always be seen, both fishing for their supper. Beyond enjoying the uplifting scenery, visitors can also head upward, along the six hill paths laid out on the hill above the lake. There are numerous rest pavilions, and you'll come across many local folk out for their daily exercise.
Guandu Nature Park – A Natural Habitat for Bird Watching
Guandu Nature Park (關渡自然公園) is located at the confluence of the Tamsui (淡水) and Keelung rivers. This spot, an important stop for migratory birds, is also a favorite destination among birders. The wetland here covers an area of 57 hectares, and the park administration organizes a wide selection of wetland environment education activities, weekend and holiday lectures, family DIY classrooms, and camps, giving people a better understanding of wetland ecology.
Among the park's facilities are nature trails, bird watching huts, and a nature center. The trails run through a coastal forest area, riparian ecology area, freshwater pond ecology area, crab observation area, and low-elevation forest area. The wooden bird-watching huts, spread throughout the reserve, give observers a quiet and unobtrusive space to check out the many different species. This pristine birding enclave, which has been called "north Taiwan's last piece of pure land," hosts migrating birds in great number from October through March, with over 200 species recorded. There are also wetland endemic plants, fiddler crabs, mudskippers, and other flora and fauna, making this one of the city's most important edutainment assets.
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